Fluoride: Recommended by dentists and why people are afraid of it
- Dr. Jason
- Aug 22
- 3 min read
Fluoride has been a topic long debated, but especially in the past couple months. Utah became the first state to ban Fluoride in its public drinking water and Florida followed soon after. Both states cited concerns about the potential health risks of fluoride, particularly for children’s neurological development. What are they talking about and why are dentists recommending it in toothpaste and applying it at your child’s cleaning appointment?
Fluoride is a naturally occurring salt that is found in rocks, minerals and soils and dissolves easily in water. This is why most natural water deposits will have fluoride in them, and some more than others. The fruits and vegetables you purchase at your store are grown with fluoridated water and are incorporated in the produce themselves. It’s quite impossible for you to live your life fluoride-free.
Fluoride is used in two very specific ways that involves your dental health. Systemic Fluoride and Topical Fluoride. Systemic refers to fluoride you ingest in your drinking water and is involved in helping your growing teeth to have strengthening layers it requires to sufficiently resist the bacterial damage, causing cavities. Topical fluoride refers to the application of fluoride to the teeth, that is then spit out. This is found in toothpaste and fluoride applications used by the dentist in the office. This application similarly gives protection to your teeth but is going to last until the next application is applied.
Fluoride, like vitamins, is beneficial in recommended dosages. US public Health service recommends a fluoride concentration of 0.7mg/L for optimal dental health benefits, this in turn minimizes the risk of health concerns. If too much is ingested, it can be bad for your health. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has set a maximum contaminant level for fluoride in drinking water to prevent adverse health effects. Many community water systems add fluoride to their water to reach the recommended levels. They are carefully monitored and adjusted to maintain the optimal concentration.
In areas where fluoride is not monitored and if the fluoride levels get too high, this can cause different health concerns. Fluoride easily bonds to calcium and so if an excess is ingested the places where we are more likely to find adverse conditions include teeth and bone.
If long term excessive fluoride ingestion occurs in infancy or childhood a condition called Fluorosis can occur. This shows up in the form of white specks or white lines on the teeth. In severe cases the teeth appear brown and bulky. Interesting enough, in these cases, the children have less cavities because the layer built up is so resistant to them. In some cases, joints can become stiff because of excess fluoride but the bones have less fractures.
Severe Fluorosis is increasingly rare and there is no correlations of it occurring from recommended levels found in tap water.
Fluoride started to be introduced to community water from the government in 1945. Since then the US has seen a significant decrease in overall tooth decay. Yet people still are skeptical about adding anything “unnatural” into our water. And there have been people against water fluoridation ever since.
A couple of studies in had indicated a correlation with Fluoride and children’s IQ. And a lot of skeptics have held to this idea and that the risks of fluoride outweigh the benefits. Eight different studies were compared in 2023 and showed that in areas with moderate to excessive fluoridation in water, there was an association with lower IQ in children. BUT, they also showed that in communities with similar fluoride levels as optimally fluoridated community drinking water had NO ASSOCIATION with lower IQ. So as long as the fluoride is at acceptable levels, individuals would not have adverse health effects.
If you or anyone in your family has or has had a history of cavities, it is highly advised to use toothpaste with fluoride in it AND recommended to have topical fluoride placed in the dental office every 6 months, but no longer than every 12 months to give your teeth a better fighting chance at preventing cavities.
The following are the nations leading organizations that offer updated information regarding to our health. Information regarding fluoride can be accessed on their websites.
The National Institute of Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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